Research company Juniper forecasts 160 billion mobile app downloads in the year 2017, double of what’s expected by research firms in this year, 2013.

Juniper Research firm forecasts that approximately 160 billion apps will be downloaded cumulatively on Smartphones and tablets in the year 2017. A mind-boggling number no doubt, 160 billion is twice the number of app downloads forecasted for this year, 2013.

So how will app downloads increase by such a huge number? I mean 80 billion in 2013 itself is an unthinkably high number, but 160 billion in 2017? Well, one of the primary reasons will be the continual rise of freemium apps. Such apps are available for free, so users don’t think twice before downloading them. So how do these apps earn their moolah? Simple. Place ads within your app.

Other Key Findings from the Report Include: • Only 5% of apps will be paid for at the point of download in 2017, down from 6.1% this year. • Storefronts will improve their discovery services for consumers, as the influence of Amazon’s Appstore recommendation engine becomes more prominent.

Additionally, 2013 is an important year to Smartphones as it will be the first time ever that sales of Smartphones will surpass the sales of feature phones. Juniper also mentioned that 40% of all apps downloaded will fall into the “Games” category. Now, let’s fire up Play Store and download a few of those new high-quality freemium games shall we.